For Me and My Gal

A tribute to the artists of US entertainment theatre, who travelled from stage to stage across the country with their programmes of dance, song and comedy, tailored to the stars Judy Garland (in her first ‘adult’ role) and Gene Kelly (who celebrates his film debut here after Broadway successes). They play a couple inspired by vaudeville greats Jo Hayden and Harry Palmer, who first join forces professionally and, after initial resistance (Jo: ‘Why don't you just fade away?’), also find emotional connection. For the first time in one of his films, Busby Berkeley did not choreograph the dance scenes himself. The plot takes place during the First World War, and the connection between showbiz and war finds its final expression in the musical encouragement of the US troops fighting in distant France by the performers, who are now engaged in patriotic service: they swap the stage for the battlefield. (A.P.)